The Latest: White House calls sexting charges 'disgusting'

DOVER, Del. (AP) — The latest news on a Secret Service officer charged with trying to solicit a teenage girl for sex and sending obscene images and texts online. All times local.

1:45 p.m.

The White House says allegations that a uniformed Secret Service officer tried to solicit a teenage girl for sex are "disgusting."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says the administration, including the Secret Service, is taking the matter "quite seriously."

Earnest wouldn't add more to his harsh assessment of the charges against Lee Robert Moore, calling it a personnel matter.

The case is the latest in a string of embarrassing incidents for the Secret Service. Still, Earnest says President Barack Obama continues to have confidence in the agency's director, Joseph Clancy.

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11:45 a.m.

A uniformed Secret Service officer charged with trying to solicit a teenage girl for sex and sending obscene images and texts online has posted bail on state charges in Delaware but remains in custody on a federal warrant.

Thirty-seven-year-old Lee Robert Moore of Church Hill, Maryland, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Friday morning without appearing in court on state charges of sexual solicitation of a child under 18 and providing obscene material to a person under 18.

Moore, who was arrested Monday, was released from state custody Tuesday after posting $105,000 secured bail, but he remains in custody on a separate federal charge of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Delaware said a detention hearing for Moore will be held in federal court sometime next week.

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10:50 a.m.

A uniformed Secret Service officer charged with trying to solicit a teenage girl for sex and sending obscene images and texts online has waived an appearance in court.

Thirty-seven-year-old Lee Robert Moore, of Church Hill, Maryland, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Friday morning without appearing in court in Delaware on state charges of sexual solicitation of a child under 18 and providing obscene material to a person under 18. He is charged separately in federal court with attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor.

Defense attorney John Barber waived the hearing and declined to comment. Moore's parents spoke with Barber before and after the hearing but declined to comment to a reporter.